Determining incentive for crowd sourced question

ABSTRACT

A computing device receives one or more questions. The computing device determines at least one of an urgency factor, an importance factor, and a difficulty level associated with the received one or more questions and determines at least one of an availability factor, a skill factor, and a quality level associated with the received one or more questions. The computing device determines an incentive based on the determined at least one of an urgency factor, an importance factor, and a difficulty level associated with the received one or more questions, and the determined at least one of an availability factor, a skill factor, and a quality level associated with the received one or more questions.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to crowd sourcing, and moreparticularly to determining an incentive for a question-answering taskin a crowd sourcing setting.

BACKGROUND

Crowd sourcing is a very popular way to get answers to questions. Forexample, social media or online forums are widely used to ask andretrieve answers to questions. By utilizing crowd sourcing to answerquestions, one can retrieve the best answer in the most efficientmanner. In some settings, answers to important questions can be valuableand therefore a compensation of sorts may be required to obtain theanswer.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a system, method, andprogram product for receiving one or more questions; determining atleast one of an urgency factor, an importance factor, and a difficultylevel associated with the received one or more questions; determining atleast one of an availability factor, a skill factor, and a quality levelassociated with the received one or more questions; and determining anincentive based on the determined at least one of an urgency factor, animportance factor, and a difficulty level associated with the receivedone or more questions, and the determined at least one of anavailability factor, a skill factor, and a quality level associated withthe received one or more questions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an incentive determination system, in accordance withan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of the incentiveprogram of FIG. 1 in determining an incentive for a received question,in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting the hardware components of theincentive determination system of FIG. 1, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying Figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates workflow creation system 100, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. In an example embodiment, workflow creationsystem 100 includes computing device 110 and social network server 140all interconnected via network 130.

In the example embodiment, network 130 is the Internet, representing aworldwide collection of networks and gateways to support communicationsbetween devices connected to the Internet. Network 130 may include, forexample, wired, wireless, or fiber optic connections. In otherembodiments, network 130 may be implemented as an intranet, a local areanetwork (LAN), or a wide area network (WAN). In general, network 130 canbe any combination of connections and protocols that will supportcommunications between computing device 110 and social network server140.

Social network server 140 includes social network site 142. Social mediaserver 140 may be a desktop computer, a notebook, a laptop computer, atablet computer, a handheld device, a smart-phone, a thin client, or anyother electronic device or computing system capable of receiving andsending data to and from other computing devices such as computingdevice 110 via network 130. Although not shown, optionally, socialnetwork server 140 can comprise a cluster of web servers executing thesame software to collectively process the requests for the web pages asdistributed by a front end server and a load balancer. In the exampleembodiment, social network server 140 is a computing device that isoptimized for the support of websites which reside on social networkserver 140, such as social network site 142, and for the support ofnetwork requests related to websites, which reside on social networkserver 140. Social network server 140 is described in more detail withreference to FIG. 3.

Social network site 142 is a collection of files including, for example,HTML files, CSS files, image files and JavaScript files. Social networksite 142 can also include other resources such as audio files and videofiles.

Computing device 110 includes incentive program 112 and user interface114. Computing device 110 may be a desktop computer, a notebook, alaptop computer, a tablet computer, a handheld device, a smart-phone, athin client, or any other electronic device or computing system capableof receiving and sending data to and from other computing devices, suchas social network server 140, via network 130. Although not shown,optionally, computing device 110 can comprise a cluster of devicesexecuting the same software to collectively process requests. Computingdevice 110 is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

User interface 114 includes components used to receive input from a userand transmit the input to an application residing on computing device110. In the example embodiment, user interface 114 uses a combination oftechnologies and devices, such as device drivers, to provide a platformto enable users of computing device 110 to interact with incentiveprogram 112. In the example embodiment, user interface 114 receivesinput, such as textual input received from a physical input device, suchas a keyboard, via a device driver that corresponds to the physicalinput device.

Incentive program 112 is software capable of receiving information, suchas user input describing a question and the importance and urgency ofthe question. In addition, in the example embodiment, incentive program112 is capable of determining factors related to the question such asthe difficulty level, the life of the question, the recency of thequestion, a group of experts for the question, the skill level andavailability of the group of experts, and the quality level previoussimilarly answered questions. Further, incentive program 112 is capableof determining an incentive based on one or more of the aforementionedfactors and other factors related to the question. In the exampleembodiment, an incentive is a payment, reward, increased user rating, orother type of compensation that can be awarded to a user/expert foranswering a question. The operations and functions of incentive program112 is described in more detail with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operations of incentive program112 in determining an incentive for a received question, in accordancewith an example embodiment of the invention. In the example embodiment,an incentive is a payment (monetary or good/item), increased userrating, increased peer rating/popularity score, or other form ofscore/rating that may be associated with an expert. In otherembodiments, an incentive may be another form of positive reinforcement.

In the example embodiment, incentive program 112 detects that a question(or questions) has been received by question program 116 from the userof computing device 110 via user interface 114 (step 202). For example,incentive program 112 may receive a question such as “What type of metalshould I use in order to make a cost-effective semiconductor device?”.In other embodiments, incentive program 112 receives the question fromanother computing device via network 130.

Incentive program 112 determines an urgency factor and an importancefactor associated with the received question (step 204). In the exampleembodiment, incentive program 112 determines an urgency factor and animportance factor for the question based on user input received from theuser of computing device 110 via user interface 114. For example, whenthe user of computing device 110 submits the question, incentive program112 may provide an option to submit a numerical urgency rating. In theexample embodiment, the higher the numerical urgency rating, the moreurgent the question, however, in other embodiments, a different ratingsystem may be used. In the same manner, when the user of computingdevice 110 submits the question, incentive program 112 may provide anoption to submit a numerical importance rating. In the exampleembodiment, the higher the numerical importance rating, the moreimportant the question, however, in other embodiments, a differentrating system may be used.

Incentive program 112 determines a difficulty level (difficulty factor)to associate with the received question (step 206). In the exampleembodiment, incentive program 112 determines a difficulty level toassociate with the received question by utilizing natural languageprocessing to determine at least one of the topics present within thequestion, the number of nouns present within the question, and determinethe parse tree of the question. In the example embodiment, incentiveprogram 112 may utilize the topics present within the question and thencross-reference the topics with a database which contains a list oftopics and associated difficulty levels. If incentive program 112 findsmore than one topic, incentive program 112 may cross-reference thedatabase to determine the difficulty levels associated with the multipletopics and then average the determined difficulty levels. In addition,based on the number of nouns present in the question, incentive program112 may assign an appropriate difficulty level (the more nouns, thehigher the difficulty level). In other embodiments, incentive program112 may cross-reference the determined topics with reference material(such as online reference material) to determine the number of entriespresent for the determined topics. In this embodiment, the more entriesthat are located, the higher the difficulty level, however, in otherembodiments, a different correlation may be used. In furtherembodiments, the incentive program 112 may receive the difficulty levelfrom the user of computing device 110 as a user input via user interface114. In even further embodiments, incentive program 112 may utilizenatural language processing to compare the received question topreviously received questions and assign a similar difficulty level tothe received question.

Incentive program 112 determines an appropriate group of experts for thereceived question (step 208). In the example embodiment, incentiveprogram 112 references social network site 142 via network 130 in orderto determine an appropriate group of experts for the question. Forexample, incentive program 112 may base the determination on the skills,messages posted, endorsements, or other relevant information on thesocial network page of each expert. In addition, professional networksites, employer databases and webpages, and previously answeredquestions may also be utilized in order to determine whether a personmay be considered an expert with regard to the received question. Inother embodiments, incentive program 112 may determine that the socialnetwork of the user of computing device 110 is an appropriate group forthe received question.

Incentive program 112 determines the availability within the group ofexperts (step 210). In the example embodiment, incentive program 112determines the availability within the group of experts by checking theactivity level of each expert, how frequently each expert logs on,questions asked in the past, seasonality of the expert's login schedule,and how often the expert answers questions. In addition, each expert mayprovide an indication whether he or she is available. In the exampleembodiment, incentive program 112, incentive program 112 may communicatewith sister programs via network 130 to determine the availability of anexpert. For example, when incentive program 112 is initiated, incentiveprogram 112 may display and indicator, such as “available” or a greendot, to indicate that the user of computing 110 is available. In thesame manner, sister programs of incentive program 112 may provide asimilar indication. Therefore, incentive program 112 may communicatewith sister programs, via network 130, in order to determine whetheranother user (potential expert) is available. Furthermore, as statedabove, incentive program 112 (and sister programs) may track relevantuser information such as: the activity level of a user, how frequently auser logs on, questions asked in the past, seasonality of the user'slogin schedule, and how often the user answers questions. Incentiveprogram 112 may also communicate with sister programs, via network 130,in order to retrieve the relevant user information and determine anavailability of a user (potential expert) based on the retrievedinformation. In the example embodiment, incentive program 112 determinesan availability factor based on the determined availability within thegroup of experts. In the example embodiment, the higher theavailability, the lower the availability factor (and vice versa),however, in other embodiments, a different correlation may be used.

Incentive program 112 determines the skill level of the availableexperts (step 212). In the example embodiment, incentive program 112 maydetermine the skill level of available experts by examining a profilemaintained by incentive program 112 (and sister programs), analyzingpast questions answered by available experts (retrieved via network130), or analyzing professional or social network profiles of availableexperts by communicating with social network server 140 via network 130.In the example embodiment, incentive program 112 utilizes profile andother retrieved information to determine whether the skill level of eachavailable experts is above a specific threshold. If incentive program112 determines that the skill level of an expert is above a specificthreshold, the expert is designated as “skilled”. Incentive program 112then determines a skill level (skill factor) of the available expertsbased on the number of experts designated as “skilled”. In otherembodiments, incentive program 112 may determine the skill level basedon the percentage of experts designated as “skilled”.

Incentive program 112 determines the quality level (quality factor) ofanswers to previous similar questions (step 214). In the exampleembodiment, for previously answered questions, incentive program 112 mayprovide an option to each user to rate each answer received. Incentiveprogram 112 may then store the answer in association with thecorresponding rating. Therefore, incentive program 112 may then comparethe received question (current) with previously answered similarquestions in order to determine a quality level. In the exampleembodiment, the lower the ratings associated with previously answeredquestions, the lower the quality level, however, in other embodiments, adifferent correlation may be used. In other embodiments, the ratingsassociated with previously answered questions may be compared to one ormore threshold levels to determine a corresponding quality level.

Furthermore, in the example embodiment, incentive program 112 maydetermine the life of the received question in the system (recencylevel/factor). In the example embodiment, the longer the question hasremained in the system without being answered, the more the incentive isreduced. In the example embodiment, incentive program 112 may havethreshold levels (representing lengths of time) which, when surpassed,reduce the incentive by a pre-determined amount. In other embodiments,if a question is marked as important (has a high importancelevel/factor), the incentive may not be reduced, or may only be slightlyreduced, as the question ages in the system.

Incentive program 112 determines an incentive for the received question(step 216). In the example embodiment, incentive program 112 determinesan incentive for the received question based on the urgency factor, theimportance factor, the difficulty factor, the availability factor, theskill factor, and the quality factor. For example, incentive program 112may determine the incentive for the received question by utilizing theequation below:

Z=AT+BU+CV+DW+EX+FY

Where Z is the incentive, T is the urgency factor, A is a weightassociated with the urgency factor, U is the importance factor, B is aweight associated with the importance factor, V is the difficultyfactor, C is a weight associated with the difficulty factor, W is theavailability factor, D is a weight associated with the availabilityfactor, X is the skill factor, E is a weight associated with the skillfactor, Y is the quality factor, and F is a weight associated with thequality factor.

In the example embodiment, the weights associated with each factor aredetermined by machine learning. In other embodiments, the weightsassociated with each factor may be input by a programmer or user.

In other embodiments, other relevant factors may be included in thedetermination of the incentive.

The foregoing description of various embodiments of the presentinvention has been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive nor to limit theinvention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may beapparent to a person skilled in the art of the invention are intended tobe included within the scope of the invention as defined by theaccompanying claims.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of components of computing device 110 andsocial media server 140, in accordance with an illustrative embodimentof the present invention. It should be appreciated that FIG. 4 providesonly an illustration of one implementation and does not imply anylimitations with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depictedenvironment may be made.

Computing device 110 and social media server 140 include communicationsfabric 302, which provides communications between computer processor(s)304, memory 306, persistent storage 308, communications unit 312, andinput/output (I/O) interface(s) 314. Communications fabric 302 can beimplemented with any architecture designed for passing data and/orcontrol information between processors (such as microprocessors,communications and network processors, etc.), system memory, peripheraldevices, and any other hardware components within a system. For example,communications fabric 302 can be implemented with one or more buses.

Memory 306 and persistent storage 308 are computer-readable storagemedia. In this embodiment, memory 306 includes random access memory(RAM) 316 and cache memory 318. In general, memory 306 can include anysuitable volatile or non-volatile computer-readable storage media.

The programs incentive program 112 and user interface 114 in computingdevice 110; and social media site 142 in social media server 140 arestored in persistent storage 308 for execution by one or more of therespective computer processors 304 via one or more memories of memory306. In this embodiment, persistent storage 308 includes a magnetic harddisk drive. Alternatively, or in addition to a magnetic hard disk drive,persistent storage 308 can include a solid state hard drive, asemiconductor storage device, read-only memory (ROM), erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, or any othercomputer-readable storage media that is capable of storing programinstructions or digital information.

The media used by persistent storage 308 may also be removable. Forexample, a removable hard drive may be used for persistent storage 308.Other examples include optical and magnetic disks, thumb drives, andsmart cards that are inserted into a drive for transfer onto anothercomputer-readable storage medium that is also part of persistent storage308.

Communications unit 312, in these examples, provides for communicationswith other data processing systems or devices. In these examples,communications unit 312 includes one or more network interface cards.Communications unit 312 may provide communications through the use ofeither or both physical and wireless communications links. The programsincentive program 112 and user interface 114 in computing device 110;and social media site 142 in social media server 140, may be downloadedto persistent storage 308 through communications unit 312.

I/O interface(s) 314 allows for input and output of data with otherdevices that may be connected to computing device 110 and social mediaserver 140. For example, I/O interface 314 may provide a connection toexternal devices 320 such as, a keyboard, keypad, a touch screen, and/orsome other suitable input device. External devices 320 can also includeportable computer-readable storage media such as, for example, thumbdrives, portable optical or magnetic disks, and memory cards. Softwareand data used to practice embodiments of the present invention, e.g.,the incentive program 112 and user interface 114 in computing device110; and social media site 142 in social media server 140 can be storedon such portable computer-readable storage media and can be loaded ontopersistent storage 308 via I/O interface(s) 314. I/O interface(s) 314can also connect to a display 322.

Display 322 provides a mechanism to display data to a user and may be,for example, a computer monitor.

The programs described herein are identified based upon the applicationfor which they are implemented in a specific embodiment of theinvention. However, it should be appreciated that any particular programnomenclature herein is used merely for convenience, and thus theinvention should not be limited to use solely in any specificapplication identified and/or implied by such nomenclature. The presentinvention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge devices. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C−+ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or device. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles ofthe embodiment, the practical application or technical improvement overtechnologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for determining an incentive for one ormore questions comprising: receiving one or more questions; determiningat least one of an urgency factor, an importance factor, and adifficulty level associated with the received one or more questions;determining at least one of an availability factor, a skill factor, anda quality level associated with the received one or more questions; anddetermining an incentive based on the determined at least one of anurgency factor, an importance factor, and a difficulty level associatedwith the received one or more questions, and the determined at least oneof an availability factor, a skill factor, and a quality levelassociated with the received one or more questions.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the difficulty level is determined based on at leastone of one or more topics present within the one or more questions and anumber of nouns present within the one or more questions.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the availability level is determined based on atleast one of an activity level of an expert, a login frequencyassociated with an expert, one or more previous questions asked to anexpert, and a login schedule of an expert.
 4. The method of claim 1,further comprising the computing device determining a recency factorassociated with the one or more questions.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the incentive is further based on the determined recency factorassociated with the one or more questions.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the skill factor is determined for a group of available experts.7. The method of claim 1, wherein a quality level is determined based ona rating associated with one or more answers submitted for one or moresubstantially similar questions.